


Teen Wolf

by MerMagicAnaLily



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Buffy tries to solve a mystery, M/M, Protective Buffy, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Werewolf AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-10 02:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20520689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerMagicAnaLily/pseuds/MerMagicAnaLily
Summary: Buffy Driscoll can see that T.J. Kippen is acting mysterious, and she wants to know what’s going on with him. Could he be a werewolf? Could Cyrus Goodman be in danger?





	1. Intro to Buffy

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is just a silly thought that popped into my head and refused to leave unless I wrote it down, so here it is. Enjoy the silliness of it! And please comment if you read it, that way I know people are reading it.

Buffy kept her eyes trained on T.J. Kippen. She didn’t fully trust him. He had been dating her best friend for five months now and of course she was happy that the two seemed to care greatly for each other, and that’s all she wanted, but she was afraid for Cyrus. T.J. always acted weird once a month. 

T.J. would retreat from everyone in the world except for Cyrus once a month, and at first, Buffy suspected that he was trans like her own boyfriend, but that was disproved since all of the people in their friend group were quite open about their gender identities and sexualities. Then Buffy started paying more attention. 

She would look over his shoulder whenever he was online and see moon phase calendars, and there was always a date circled in his locker, which Buffy started looking up. Why was he always circling the date of the full moon? Then she noticed more weird things. One day, she saw a pair of handcuffs fall out of his backpack and he quickly shoved them into his locker, thinking nobody saw them. He always got extra protein at lunch and one time she saw no less than fifteen packs of beef jerky in his locker and four more in his backpack. 

“Okay, Kippen, speak,” she said cornering him one day. 

“Woof woof,” he said dryly. 

“Funny, but seriously, talk.”

“What would you like to talk about? Politics? Current events? How climate change is real and politicians denying it is causing a rapid end to life as we know it?” He was changing out his history book for his math book and putting it in his bag. 

“I’m talking about how weird you’re acting…” she said, looking at the calendar he hung up. “Two days before the full moon.”

T.J. paused a little and looked at her. “How do you know it’s the full moon in two days?” 

“How do you?” She asked. “It’s circled one your calendar. And I know you were looking into it on your phone...it’s really easy to read over your shoulder.”

“Okay...and?”

“Why are you looking that up?”

“Ever thought to consider that I just like astronomy?”

“If Cyrus said that, I’d believe it.”

“Then why not consider that I’m taking Cyrus out for stargazing and a full moon is one of the best nights to stargaze?”

“Because it falls on a Wednesday and Cyrus hates staying up late for the next day at school.”

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought. He’s sleeping over.”

Buffy scoffed. “He wouldn’t sleep over in the middle of a week.”

“Ask him yourself,” he said. “We already made plans.” He closed his locker and he walked off to class. 

* * *

Buffy did ask Cyrus. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m staying over at his house on Wednesday, why?”

“You never stay over on a weekday! You never have!” She said. “That’s what you always told me and Andi when we invited you over.”

“Things change,” he said. “And you’re not my romantic interest.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me you two refer to each other like that,” Buffy mock-gagged. 

“No, we use proper pet names, like babe, sweetheart, muffin, teddy.”

“Muffin and Teddy are not proper pet names,” she said. 

“To us they are. Muffin for me, Teddy for him.”

“You two are undeniably and irritatingly sweet,” she said. “But...have you not noticed T.J. acting weird?”

“He’s not acting weird.”

“He’s tracking moon phases.”

“He’s interested in astronomy.”

“Lie.”

“I’m interested in astronomy.”

“More believable lie,” she relented slightly. “But a lie nonetheless.”

Cyrus got a text and he read it before putting his phone away. “We’re going stargazing.”

“Cyrus...I’m not sure if I trust T.J.”

“You just hate him,” he sighed. “You have since the seventh grade.”

“I actually stopped hating him,” she said. “Remember? He rapped the apology, I accepted him, I said he used to be the worst but now he’s the best?” She stepped in front of Cyrus. “I’m worried about you. I don’t want him hurting you.”

Cyrus sighed. “Trust me...you shouldn’t be worried about  _ him  _ hurting  _ me. _ ” He stepped around her and went to class.

* * *

Even Andi, Marty, and Amber were saying that she was being too paranoid. Jonah had no opinions. “You guys say I’m too oblivious, so I don’t see anything, but I don’t see anything in general.”

“Jonah, no offense, but you’re no help here,” she groaned. “Come on, guys, nobody acts that way! And handcuffs?!”

“She you sure that you saw handcuffs?” Andi asked. 

“Maybe Cyrus wanted handcuffs?” Marty asked, and everyone threw their napkins at his face. 

“No dirty jokes about Cyrus!” Andi said.

“It wasn’t even a joke! But I won’t suggest it again,” he said, putting his arms up. 

“Look,” Buffy said. “Amber, you know T.J. better than anyone. What’s going on with him?”

“No clue,” she said. “He asked me if I could sleep over at Andi’s on Wednesday, and I’m not one to complain. Every time Cyrus is over at our place, mom is always on the night shift now and I’m at Andi’s.”

“You go to Andi’s every full moon?” Buffy asked suspiciously. 

“I don’t exactly pay attention to the moon phases either,” Amber said. “But about once a month.” 

Jonah stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Buffy...are you accusing T.J. of being a werewolf?” 

Buffy stopped and looked around her friends sitting at their booth in The Spoon. “Yeah that does sound crazy...doesn’t it?”

“Completely,” Marty said. “Please tell me you don’t think that.”

Buffy looked down. “I wasn’t….”

“Oh my god, that's what you’re thinking now!” Jonah gasped. 

“You put it in my head Jonah!”

“Buffy, T.J. may reek like wet dog,” Amber said. “But he’s not a werewolf.”

* * *

Buffy couldn’t get it out of her head as she watched him right up until he and Cyrus were supposed to be sleeping over. Werewolf made no sense but it also made all the sense in the world. The handcuffs were for T.J. to keep himself chained, probably...right? Unless…

Buffy’s next search was if werewolves ate humans. All search results said that humans could be eaten by werewolves, but that werewolves didn’t seek them out specifically. That didn’t help ease Buffy’s head. 

“Cyrus, you just gotta trust me! You can’t go to T.J.’s house tonight!”

“Buffy, I already made plans,” he said, packing his bag for his homework. “We’ve had this planned for weeks.”

“Yeah...but who knows what he has planned?”

“Probably stargazing and watching movies, like we usually do.”

“I saw handcuffs!” 

“Maybe we want to go past PG-13…?” His red face made Buffy absolutely sure that nothing like that would happen. 

“Cyrus, I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“And neither was I,” he said. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” He closed his locker and met up with T.J., holding his hand as they walked back to the Kippen house. 

* * *

Buffy wondered if she was going too far as she sat in her car outside said Kippen house watching the two boys sit on the porch just talking and laughing with each other. Then she watched the sun start to go down and both of them go inside. She saw T.J.’s bedroom window was open and the two kissed before there was strange movement. They both went down to the floor, but then only T.J. got up and left the bedroom. 

The moon started going up and Buffy panicked. T.J. was alone in a house with Cyrus on the full moon and he was acting too weird for nothing supernatural to be happening. She opened the door and heard the growling, and then a howl. Buffy slammed her car door in a panic and ran inside the house, thankfully the front door was unlocked. 

T.J. was in the kitchen with bags of beef jerky in his arms when Buffy ran in. “Don’t hurt him!” 

He stared at Buffy like she had grown a third head...though to be fair she was standing in his kitchen after throwing the door open. 

“What?! Driscoll what the hell are you doing in my house?!”

“Don’t hurt Cyrus! I uh…I dunno…” she looked in his kitchen drawer nearest her and found a little Chinese take out packet and tore it open, revealing chopsticks, and she held it in her hand like a weapon. “I’ll stake you!”

“Buffy, you think I’m a vampire?!”

“Wait...stakes are vampires...uh…” she took off her earring. “I’ll stab you with silver.”

T.J. groaned. “You think I’m the werewolf.”

“You aren’t a werewolf?”

“No I’m not a werewolf!”

“But the handcuffs...beef jerky...moon calendar?” She heard the howl again and tensed up. “THAT NOISE?!”

He sighed. “Clearly that didn’t come from me, did it?” 

“Cyrus...he’s upstairs...he could be in danger! Cyrus!” She bounded up the stairs and T.J. had to run after her, dropping a few bags of jerky. 

Of course anyone else would have put two and two together earlier, and in hindsight, Buffy knew she should have thought of this sooner, but she was too busy wanting to save her best friend that she opened the door and screamed at the wolf man sitting where she saw Cyrus last. 

The wolf snarled, handcuffed to the radiator and started to lunge at her when T.J. pulled her back and out of the room. “Cy...it’s okay...it’s okay…you’re just hungry.” 

The wolf man kept snarling as T.J. slowly approached, keeping a hand up to warn Buffy to stay back. The wolf man...Cyrus...sniffed and seemed to recognize the scent. T.J. left an open bag of jerky in front of him then walked away, grabbing Buffy and pulling her outside his bedroom before closing the door. 

She stared at the closed door. “Cyrus is the werewolf?!”

“Yeah…”

“Since when?! Why didn’t he tell us?!”

“He didn’t want to tell anyone,” he said. “And you need to calm down. His ears are super sensitive.” 

“Right...right...since when?” She asked, a lot more quietly but still freaking out. 

“Remember when his step-dad insisted on an RV trip? Sometime then, he got attacked by a werewolf but doesn’t remember it.”

“How come we don’t know but you do?” She asked. “Doesn’t he trust us?”

“He trusts you, but not himself,” he said. “I found out by accident. I saw him eating our neighbor’s cat a few months ago, and I locked him in the garage until sunrise.”

“He was eating a cat? That doesn’t sound like Cyrus…”

“He made me hold a funeral for it the next day.”

“...That sounds like Cyrus…” 

“The next morning, he told me everything but said he didn’t know how you guys would react. He didn’t want you to be afraid of him.”

“How come you’re not afraid?” She asked. “That’s a werewolf.”

“That’s also Cyrus,” he chuckled. “You don’t think he’d act like a puppy once you get over his big scary look and scratch him behind the ears?” 

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh a little. “That’s true...but he looked ready to attack…”

“Because you looked ready to attack,” he said. “He’s very defensive. And he has no human memories in his wolf form, and no wolf memories in human form. I’m the one that has to tell him everything he does on full moons.” 

“So all the research? It was for him?”

“Yeah...didn’t you do a ton of research when Marty came out to you?”

“Yeah...my parents thought I was trans for two weeks until he let me tell them,” she laughed a little.

“Well, it’s only fair that you thought I was the werewolf and not my boyfriend then,” T.J. said. “I was only trying to figure out what’s best for him when he’s like this.”

Buffy looked at the door again. “So...what now?”

“I just take care of him. He gets really hungry and he likes meat like this. And, unsurprisingly, baby taters. I ordered some for delivery later.”

“And what about the rest of us?” She asked. “Andi, Jonah, Marty? Even Amber?”

T.J. shrugged. “Up to him. You gotta treat it like his coming out. In a way, it is…”

“You’re right…” she sighed. “Mind if I stay too?”

T.J. smiled. “Not at all, might be nice to have a human conversation while my werewolf boyfriend controls himself from eating any other household pets. But I should warn you,” he said. “He tends to try a prison break around 2 a.m.”

Buffy laughed. “He may be a stronger and bigger dude as a wolf, but that’s if still Cyrus Goodman, I can handle him.”


	2. From Buffy On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this is just gonna be a series of cute drabbles about the GHC (and Extended GHC which includes Jonah, Amber, Marty, and T.J.) dealing with a werewolf Cyrus in a normal Shadyside. No real angst will be here longer than a few paragraphs. Hope you have a little fun with this!!!

“Wait...I did WHAT?!” Cyrus put his head down on the breakfast table with T.J. and Buffy on either side of him laughing as they ate breakfast. Buffy and T.J. were laughing. 

“You totally duped him with your *literal* puppy dog eyes,” Buffy said. “One look at T.J. with your big brown eyes and he totally released the chains.”

“You didn’t stop him?!” 

“To be fair, I tried…”

“You so did not!” T.J. protested. 

“I did!” She said back. “I told you that you were doing a dumbass move!”

“Just saying I was doing a dumbass move as softly as you possibly can is totally not trying to stop me!” He argued. “You succumbed to the eyes too! Admit it!”

“I’ve known him longer!” She said. “He knows my weaknesses!”

“The puppy knows nothing,” Cyrus said. That’s how they referred to his other half as, “the puppy.” It was better than calling it a wolf or beast or whatever. “The puppy doesn’t know your weaknesses! You were just as overcome with the cuteness to let T.J. undo the chains and handcuffs!”

Buffy laughed. “Maybe I was...a little…” she admitted, “Do you know how big your eyes can get?! It’s absolutely impossible!!!”

“It’s true. Your cuteness is enhanced by at least thirty percent,” T.J. said. “Anyways, your puppy dog eyes convinced me to undo everything holding you back, and you started to cuddle up against me...until you ran full force at the back door and got out.”

Cyrus laughed and fell off his chair. Buffy got down to help him up. “Thankfully,” she said. No animal casualties that we found.”

“That you found?! What if-“

“We were thorough,” T.J. promised him. “Turned over every rock and tree and creature.”

“You’re absolutely sure nothing and no one was harmed?”

“Triple checked,” Buffy assured him. “Everyone is safe…other than T.J. when his mom comes home and sees the window.”

“Oh...that...babe...how are you gonna get around that?”

“I’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” he said, kissing the side of Cyrus’s head. 

“Cy...I have to ask…” Buffy started. “Why are we the only two that know?”

“Because you’re the only two that found out,” he said. 

“Cy…” Buffy took his hand. “You know that the others won’t be afraid of you, right?”

“Buffy...you shouldn’t say things like that,” he said. “I’m a...the puppy is also a ferocious giant wolf that could kill you.”

“Could,” Buffy said. “But has instead cuddled both of us and loves ear scratches.”

“Because puppy is a sucker for both of you,” he said with a red face. “Now that I’m not a hulking monster, I’m going to go find a shirt before Mrs. Kippen comes home and sees me like this and thinks the three of us are doing weird things.”

“We are doing weird things...but more Twilight weird than Teenage Rom Com weird,” Buffy teased. 

“Buffy!” He blushed again and ran upstairs. 

Buffy and T.J. looked at each other and sighed. “We got a couple of close calls last night,” she said. 

“Honestly, I think he’s getting stronger,” T.J. said. “When I was alone...I struggled, and theoretically it should be easier with you to help me. In some ways it is...but…”

“I know,” she said. “Even before we let him go, it seemed like he was starting to break the radiator. I don’t want to say it but…”

“You’re thinking of silver chains...aren’t you?” 

“Real silver hurts. Remember when he touched my necklace and winced?” She said. “I don’t want to...but...if he’s escaping more and more easily…”

“Maybe we think of other things first. Like getting him out of the suburbs? Turning our sleepovers into camping trips instead? I don’t know…” T.J. said.

“We’d have no way of restraining him on a camping trip,” Buffy said. “We’d have to be in top shape to run after him all night.”

“Better than destroying my house…” He said. “I guess…”

“Maybe one more full moon,” she said. “One more where we try something else,” she said. “Before we start buying tents and sleeping bags.” 

* * *

** _(Two Weeks Later)_ **

"Hey... Teej?"

"Yeah Buffy?" T.J. asked, putting his things away in his locker.

"Why did you give me 17 cans of energy drinks?"

"Oh, you didn't get the instant coffee?"

"The what? T.J., what's with this caffeine binge you're putting me on?"

"It's for Cyrus," he put some cans of energy drink from his locker into his bag.

"Why? It's nowhere near a full moon."

T.J. sighed. "I forget that you don't have the Werewolf Boyfriend Manual I'm basically writing."

"Cyrus isn't my boyfriend and Marty isn't a werewolf."

"Yeah, but most things for boyfriends also work for best friends," he said. "But you're right. We're nowhere near a full moon. However, full moons aren't the only moon phases that affect werewolves."

"So... what's going on?"

"Well, you know how full moons also give Cyrus a ridiculous amount of energy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, tonight is a New Moon... meaning no moon... meaning..." he pointed at Cyrus, who was across the hall, asleep on his locker door.

"Wow... So all this caffeine?"

"Last time I went through a full case of Monster and he still fell asleep if he didn't immediately have another after finishing one." T.J. had stopped by Starbucks that morning and he grabbed the ice coffee he put on the floor of his locker while he arranged everything. He went over to Cyrus and shook him awake before giving him the coffee.

"So.... Because I have some classes with him and you don't, you gave me enough caffeine to kill an elephant?"

"First of all, Cyrus can and has consumed this much caffeine with no problem. Part of Puppy's physiology, and two, yes."

Cyrus looked like he was in his own world while he drank his coffee.

"Why not give it to him. Cyrus is a grown man in Jewish standards and a fairly competent teenager in American Societal Standards.”

"Because, while Cyrus is fully competent," T.J. said and Cyrus started leaning against him lovingly. "Puppy isn't. Extreme moon phases bring him out. Watch.” He turned to his boyfriend. "Cyrus, I'm thinking of dropping out of school and dedicating my life to wiffle ball."

"Sounds fun," he said sleepily. "Wiffle away."

"Okay, point taken. That's not like Cyrus. That's short sighted puppy," She sighed. "How do we explain this to everyone?"

"This is when I'm grateful that the Goodmans are pretty much the only Jewish families in Shadyside. I had to look up a lot of things and invented this obscure reasoning which is basically a fast that they do with everything but drinks. I just told any teachers that asked that Cyrus is from a sect that practices this once a month rather than once a year."

"Wait... that works?!"

"Hey, never underestimate a Goy’s ignorance," T.J. said. “Plus, the simpler the explanation, the better. And very few people question religion. They’re too afraid to appear unaccepting.”

“And doesn’t he need to eat?” Buffy asked. “Fasting doesn’t help there.”

“Nope, but bathroom breaks do. And the gym bag has lunchables, jerky, and bagels with lox,” he said. “The bagels are triple wrapped so there’s no smell...well...no smell to anyone but him.”

“How heightened are his senses in human form again?” Buffy asked. 

“You sound like a karaoke bar and smell like the perfume section in a department store,” Cyrus said. “And I can see everything everywhere...except through walls,” he mumbled sleepily. 

“Alright Cy, first period is with Buffy. Think you can stay awake long enough?” T.J. asked. 

“I don’t understand why I can’t stay in bed once a month,” he mumbled. 

“Because you refuse to tell your parents that you are a werewolf,” he said. “And your mom doesn’t think lack of sleep is an excuse to skip classes. It’s one thing to take a mental health day every once in a while. It’s another to make it monthly.” 

He groaned and Buffy took his arm. “Come on, kiss your boyfriend bye-bye, we’ve got English.” 

(He actually did kiss him goodbye)

* * *

_ **(Two more weeks later)** _

“Okay, we’ve triple wrapped this, and we put sunglasses on him to make sure his puppy dog eyes don’t affect us...are we missing anything?” Buffy asked. 

“I don’t think so,” T.J. said, opening the pizza he ordered for them both and taking a slice. “Though I kinda feel bad.” 

“Because you chained up your boyfriend?”

“And I have that we agreed that we have to leave him alone other than for food,” he said. “Did you know in his early months, we used to cuddle? He’s the perfect big spoon that way.”

“You two are sickeningly adorable,” Buffy said rolling her eyes and taking a slice for herself. “So...does this affect your guys’ relationship?”

“I mean, kinda,” he said. “But not in a bad way. Just...it makes us appreciate efforts the other puts into the relationship. Whenever Cyrus isn’t puppy, he sees what I’ve done and he always showers me with affection, and I swear he put extra effort into his signs, and he pays for more dates when we go out…” he shrugged. 

“It hasn’t caused strains?” She asked. 

“Not really...at least I don’t think so…”

“Well...that’s good at least,” she said. They were quiet as they heard Cyrus shifting and winced. “Do you think he just makes those sounds instinctively, or do you think he’s actually in pain?”

“I don’t want to think about it,” he said, hearing the wails turn into howling and growling. “I want to pretend I don’t hear anything unless something sounds off...that’s also why I’m always in another room during moonrise.” They both quieted down, both listening and trying to block Cyrus out until the howling stopped. 

“Okay...I’ll go give him his first round of ungodly amounts of meat,” T.J. said. Buffy was about to agree when she head the key in the door. “It..it can’t be my mom…” 

“It’s Amber ...or Marty…” she said. “Go take care of Cy and keep him quiet. I’ll take care of them!”

T.J. nodded and ran up to his room while Buffy went and opened the door, casually blocking it. 

“Hey...Amber...and Andi...And Marty and Jonah and wow...you sure got the whole gang together, huh?” Buffy said. 

“Um...yeah…” Amber said. “We were at The Spoon, and now we’re going to Andi’s but I wanted to grab some of my video games for us to play there.” She took a step forward, trying to signal for Buffy to let her in but Buffy seemed to block her. “Everything okay here?”

“Yeah, yeah...T.J. and Cyrus they ...uh…” she looked up the stairs looking for some inspiration. “They’re having a serious talk and need their privacy, begged me to stay down here.” 

“Uh ...huh?” Marty said. “And other than right now, instead of hanging out with us in a group hang or going out on a date with me, you’re just...third wheeling?”

“Third wheeling, chaperoning…” Buffy said in a bit of a panic. Then she heard the sound of glass shattering, but not small glass like a vase, more like a big crashing sound. “Babysitting?” 

T.J. flew down the stairs grabbing his coat and saw everyone at the door. “Oh...uh...hey guys...I uh…” he looked around in a panic and then at Buffy, who groaned. 

“That was him, wasn’t it?” T.J. nodded. “The window?” He nodded again. “You were weak, weren’t you?” He winced. “I swear to god you can’t be trusted!” 

“Well what are we supposed to do now?” He scanned the small crowd at his door with hies eyes then back at Buffy.

She looked at them and then at T.J. “Get my coat. I know, you know, they might as well know,” she said and T.J. tossed her the red coat she came in. 

“What might we know?” Marty asked, crossing his arms.

“Walk and talk!” She said, both of them pushing past everyone. “Well…actually...try run!” She said and the two took off in a sprint.

* * *

“Buffy! You’ve got to tell us what’s going on!” Andi said, panting behind them, and then she stopped. “Is that Mrs. Jacobson’s toy poodle?!” She asked in horror, and Buffy and T.J. stopped and groaned. 

They looked at each other and then Buffy glared. “Your fault, your weakness, you plan it,” she said. T.J. looked like he was going to argue, but one more glare from Buffy shut him up. He winced and carefully picked it up, muttering and whining about how gross it was before dropping it in a nearby bush. 

“Okay, both of you, stop,” Amber said getting in front of them with the others following in line. “What the hell is going on?” 

They both stopped for a second and looked at each other. “You guys remember my crazy, insane, batshit theory?” Buffy asked. “About why T.J. was acting weird?”

“What? That he was a werewolf?” Andi asked. “It’s a full moon and T.J. is as hairless as usual.” T.J. frowned and touched his chin. 

“Didn’t want a beard anyways…” he mumbled quietly. 

“Well...I was only half right in the theory,” Buffy said. “There is a werewolf involved.” A howl pierced the air. “And there he is!” 

“Wait…are you trying to tell us that Cyrus is the werewolf?” Jonah asked, running after them. 

“Yup!” Buffy was beating T.J. by a little and Marty decided to catch up to her. 

“Cyrus Goodman?! The embodiment of innocence and sunshine?! He’s a werewolf?!” He asked. 

“We call him Puppy on full moons,” T.J. said, pulling Buffy and Marty to a stop. Cyrus was just ahead, growling and muttering. Everyone gasped and he snapped and started growling towards them. Buffy and T.J. stepped in front of everyone and he seemed to calm down, his yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight. “Hey Puppy…” he said quietly. “It’s time to come home...all your friends are here…we just want to make sure you’re okay…”

The wolf looked past T.J. and Buffy and laid eyes on Jonah, who was scared and stepping back, when he saw something. The wolf instantly sprinted at Jonah, knocking into him and causing everyone to scream, thinking he was attacking.

Then Jonah looked around, he was all right, and Cyrus was whimpering in pain. “Marty!” T.J. called out. “Help me get him free from this trap!”

Buffy helped Jonah up while Marty and T.J. used their strength to free Cyrus from what looked like a bear trap. “There are no goddamn bears here...why the hell are there bear traps?!” T.J. mumbled to himself sounding angry and worried. 

“He’ll be fine,” Buffy said. “Both Cyrus and Puppy heal ridiculously fast now…” she said. “He’ll be just a little sore in the morning. Maybe limping for a few days at most.” The let Jonah go, who was absolutely fine and helped Marty and T.J. get Cyrus standing, but he was buckling under his injured foot. The puppy dog eyes met Buffy. “You want me to carry you? Don’t you?” He whined. “And your boyfriend?” 

Cyrus responded by putting his paw/hand/claw/whatever you could call it into T.J.’s hand and she sighed. “Sure, I’ll carry you so you can hold hands with your boyfriend,” she said, hoisting him onto her back. Even though he was taller than Cyrus was normally, she could still easily carry him. “You two are sickeningly sweet.”

* * *

They finally got Cyrus in T.J.’ s bed and he didn’t let go of T.J.’s hand, so T.J. just sighed and shrugged his jacket off and got in bed. “You know he’ll whine otherwise and nobody will get any rest,” he said. 

“Uh-huh,” Buffy said unconvinced. “Go be cute,” she sighed. “I’ll handle these guys.” She led them all out in the hallway. “And I hope you’re all ready. We’re gonna be here a while.”


End file.
